Kaleidiscope
by poeticgrace
Summary: A series of Crayola-inspired one shots featuring Rachel, Puck, Quinn, Finn, Brittany, Blaine, Kurt, Santana, Sam, Mercedes, Mike, Artie and Tina.
1. Atomic Tangerine: Brittany & Finn

**_Atomic Tangerine: Brittany & Finn_**

"Baby, I've never seen orange snow before."

Finn watched as his very pregnant wife stood in the middle of their open backyard, hands waving freely in the air as she spun in a slow circle. He never got tired of watching her like this, so full of childlike wonder that he never wanted her to change. Brittany had certainly been one of the biggest surprises of Finn's life, but he never doubted that she was his soulmate once he decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She had never made him feel stupid, like he wasn't good enough, that he should have become a different person. Brittany accepted him exactly as he was, and she loved to have fun just as much as he did.

"It's because the sun is coming up," he called out as he crossed the lawn. She smiled up at him beneath her floppy hat, eyes dancing as she tried to catch a snowflake on her tongue. "I saw this show once where the snow was pink because of a fire. When I looked out and saw this, I jut knew I had to share it with you two."

His hands went down to cover hers on her stomach. Their little boy would be here in just a few short weeks, and he couldn't wait until they could take him out in a winter like this come next year. She leaned back against him a little, turning her head to the side slightly so she could reach up to kiss him. "We should come out later and build a snowman," she decided. It was kind of their tradition on the first snowfall every year. This would be their fifth together and the second as a married couple. "And then I'll make you that really good hot chocolate to warm you up."

"You take such good care of me," he praised her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"It's because I love you, Finn Hudson," she told him very seriously. He smiled down at her. It was rare that Brittany was ever so adamant about anything, but she was always serious about how much she loved him. There were days when he still couldn't believe she had picked him out of everyone. They honestly made more sense with each other than they ever had with anyone else before. "Ooh, I should get Lord Tubbington's new goulashes out! He's an expert at making snowballs."

"As long as you make him promise not to play dirty."

"I'll try, baby," she giggled.

She spun away from him a little bit then, only for him to twirl her back into his arms. He started to hum something familiar as she guided them into a little waltz with her big belly pressed between them. It was too cold to be out there so long but neither of them noticed. They just danced as the golden snow rained down all around them.


	2. Banana Mania: Artie & Santana

**_Banana Mania: Artie & Santana_**

Loud pop music blared all around her as she watched people bounce in time on the dance floor. She could see Finn's awkward ass trying to grind up behind Quinn, and Puck dancing out of time with a pregnant Berry on the edge of the crowd. But there would be no dancing, no celebrating, tonight for Santana Lopez. There would only be drinking and lots of it.

She heard the sure-tell sound of Artie's wheelchair approaching and then the slam of a cheap alcohol bottle on the table in front of her. "You look like you need this about as much as I do," he declared before producing a pair of shot glasses out of his suit pocket. "The bar's pretty picked over, and this is all they had left. I hope you like banana."

Santana glared down at the schnapps and then over at the bespectacled boy who'd once been the bane of her existence and then at the dance floor where Brittany was laughing with Sam. With her husband. "Start pourin', Wheels," she declared. This wasn't exactly a night she wanted to remember.

An hour later, she was pretty sure that neither her nor Artie would remember anything about this disaster of a reception. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a disaster. Quinn had worked long and hard to give Brittany and Sam the perfect night, and neither of them seemed to notice that Santana had basically disappeared once her duties as maid of honor had concluded. She had stashed her bouquet in the ice sculpture and her shoes had been left beneath some table long ago. All that she was left with now was the first person to ever love Brittany beside her and a string of sad stories they could only tell each other.

"I always thought it would be you," he whispered. "After Britt left me and things went down, I thought you were the person she'd run back to again. It would have made it easier, you know, because you could give her things I couldn't. You guys had a past. But Sam? He can't take care of her like we can."

Santana glanced down at him and smiled sadly. Artie and Brittany had gotten back together when he had ended up at Berklee after high school and Brittany was still doing the MIT thing. Things had been good through the next four years of college until one day Brittany decided she didn't want to do it anymore. She had cried a little before getting on the train to New York, and he had just assumed she was running back to Santana. They didn't find out that she was staying with Sam until the Latina called Artie three days later looking for her.

"I always thought it would be you," Santana finally countered. "When Brittany ended up in Boston, I knew that she was closing the door on us. I couldn't blame her; I was the one who did it first. I trusted you with her, knew that you knew what she needed. But you're right about Sam. How will he ever know what to do when she gets sad or scared or lonely?" She waited a moment, watching as the happy couple gazed at each other as if no one else existed, their matching blonde hair glinting beneath the spotlight. Their babies were going to be really blonde but really beautiful. "I lost my best friend tonight. We both did. She belongs to him now."

"I'm leaving Boston," he announced out of nowhere. "I got a grant from National Geographic to do a documentary on the Bronx Zoo, so I'll be in New York for awhile. Maybe we could hang out and you could show me where to pick up girls."

Santana grinned down at him lecherously. "Yeah, I make a pretty kickass wingman. Alright, yeah, that could be okay. I _am_ in the market for a new best friend, you know."

Artie chuckled and then bumped his fist against hers. "I got your back, Lopez."


	3. Cedar Chest: Puck & Rachel

_**Cedar Chest: Puck & Rachel**_

Life, it seemed, was a system built on checks and balances. One side could never have too much power, so when one person entered the world, another had to leave it. It was a repeating pattern in Puck's life. His own father had taken off when his baby sister had been born, ensuring that their family never had more than three people at any one time. And now, as he stood on the brink of adding another, he found himself saying goodbye all over again.

It had been a cold January day seven months ago when he had come home to his Manhattan loft to find his wife sitting on the edge of their bed, hunched over with a little plastic applicator in her hand. He knew what it was immediately, recognizing it from that one scare he had with Santana freshman year that no one knew about and then everything with Quinn and Beth. But it was different this time, happier, everything he and Rachel had been wanting since they got married the year before. Everything was confirmed four days later, and the first person the had called had been his mother.

Vivian Puckerman had sobbed into the phone when she found out that she was going to be a grandmother again. She had always loved Beth and hated that they missed out on all the big moments of her growing up. Even if she had known it to be best at the time and had always supported the difficult decision Quinn had made, Puck knew that his mother had been waiting years for a second chance to do the grandma thing the right way. But as he listened to her cry, he knew that there was something more. He carefully pried the phone away from Rachel and let himself out onto the fire escape as his mother told him that she was dying.

They had left New York two weeks later so that he could be there with Vivian for every appointment. Becca was still so young, and Puck couldn't let his baby sister do everything herself. Rachel had agreed, even insisted, and the three of them became a little unit working to make everything as best as they could for Vivian. It had been like that right up until the end, in those long and waning days when she started to fade fast and neither Puck nor Becca could find the strength to leave her side. Their family had become four with Rachel and he had stupidly thought they might make it to five.

Vivian died on a Thursday night just before the eleven o'clock news.

And now, with just a few weeks to go before she gave birth, Puck and Rachel were in his mother's room going through things that he knew none of them would ever want. They had already separated out the clothes in her closet and taken the most expensive of her jewelry to a safety deposit box so that Becca could have them once she was settled in her new apartment near campus. A real estate agent would come to look at the little run-down house that had always been Puck's home on Monday, and Burt said he'd give them a good deal on her used car down at the dealership. It was just stuff, things they didn't need, but it still hurt to let it go.

"Your mother told me that there were some things she wanted us to have in there," Rachel told him, nodding toward the cedar chest that had always been at the end of his mom's bed. He remembered hiding in there once when he had played hide and seek with Finn. That smell had always comforted him. He scrounged around in her top dresser drawer and handed the key over to Rachel before sitting on the floor next to her feet. The scent washed over him as she lifted the lid slowly. "Oh, look, Noah, it's your baby things."

They spent the next hour going through each item stored in the cedar chest. There were perfectly preserved sleeper sets and tiny little shoes and stuffed animals he vaguely remembered from when he was really young. Becca wandered in eventually, sitting next to her brother as they looked over their baby books and fingered blankets that been hand-knitted by Nana Connie and laughed at photos of them together when Becca had been born. And when his sister started crying, Puck held up a photo of the three of them together and pressed her close to his side.

"I really miss our mom," she whispered. Rachel came down to sit on her other side, tucking the girl maternally against her chest just as Vivian had done to her so many times.

"We miss her too," his wife said for him. "But I've been thinking, your brother and I haven't really decided on a name. If you guys don't mind, I'd like to name her after Vivian."

Puck smiled at his wife and then down at Becca. "What do you think, sis?"

She grinned and nodded. "Mom would have liked that."

What Becca didn't know, what Puck and Rachel had already decided but didn't tell her, was that they also had anther name in mind. Rebecca Vivian Puckerman was born on a Thursday night just before the eleven o'clock news with her mother screaming in stunted yiddish, her father wincing in pain from his crushed fingers and her aunt filming the entire thing with a delighted grin. She was perfect and healthy and later, when the nurses asked if they had an outfit for her, Becca handed Rachel one of her light pink chenille sleepers from the cedar chest and told her that she wanted her niece to have it.

And just like that, order was restored and three went back to four.


	4. Denim: Kurt & Quinn

_**Denim: Kurt & Quinn**_

In the beginning, there was just Quinn and Kurt.

There had been, of course, other people before the two of them, but by the time they ended up in San Francisco four years out of college, they were the only ones left. Blaine had cheated on Kurt again two years prior, this time with a countertenor that lived two floors below their penthouse apartment in Chelsea. Puck had eloped with Brittany in Vegas after a drunken night of debauchery, and it somehow worked out well enough that they had three kids. If that hadn't been hard enough on Quinn, Finn picking Rachel over her once again when he got out of the Army had been the final straw. She had fled New York two days after they got engaged, and Kurt had accepted a job offer from Vogue's West Coast office three weeks after that.

Neither of them had known anyone else when they had landed in the Bay, so it seemed natural that they end up sharing an apartment. Kurt liked the people at Vogue well enough, but they were too competitive to be real friends. Quinn was a good lawyer but her colleagues were older and boring. Even after two years in the city and on the edge of thirty, Kurt was the only person she really thought knew her in San Francisco. They had become best friends, completely inseparable and probably closer to each other than they had ever been to anyone else before. So when Quinn decided that she wanted something, she knew that there was only one person she could ask.

"I want to have a baby," she told Kurt one night over tapas and 'Project Runway' in their living room, "and I want you to be the father."

It had taken a lot of champagne and a lot of conversation, but eventually, Kurt had agreed. He wanted to be a father just as badly, and even if he hadn't completely given up on the notion of falling in love with a handsome man and raising a bunch of children from all over the world, he still really wanted to do this with his best friend. It turned out the process was surprisingly easy for the two of them, a far cry from the horror stories he read about online, and Quinn got a positive pregnancy test just two months after the whole process had begun. They didn't tell anyone until she reached the halfway mark, and then it was only a call to his parents and her mom. Kurt also quietly told his brother when he was back in Ohio for Easter and then they sent a text together to Mercedes, who was living the rockstar life in London.

Kurt took her shopping the day that they found out it was a little boy. They looked at all these upscale boutiques before they ended up in some store with an impressive Osh Kosh section. They still hadn't bought anything when Kurt's eyes landed on the tiniest pair of denim overalls he had ever seen. That night, he draped them over Quinn's slightly rounded stomach and told their son that he was going to look amazing in them.

"Whose last name will he have?" Kurt asked her as he lay next to her in the dark.

Quinn smiled and turned slightly on her side, carefully guiding her stomach as she did. "His father's, of course," she answered. "I always intended for our son to be a Hummel."

Kurt couldn't help the tears that escaped his eyes and Quinn could sense them even in the dark. She brushed them away quickly and then squeezed his hands in hers. "I want part of his name to come from you though."

"I'm not really attached to any parts of my name," she assured him. "But maybe we could use Robert as a middle name. Partly after my father and partly after yours. I know I'm not really close to my dad but I think he'd like it."

When Kurt suggested William a few minutes later, they knew they had their name.

Four months later, on a quiet August night, Kurt left Vogue's big September issue release party to grab a cab to CPMC where Quinn was in labor a week before their due date. He stopped by the apartment to grab his bag and then rushed as quickly as he could up to her private birthing suite. William Robert Hummel was born six hours after that, and he couldn't have been a more perfect combination of Kurt's gorgeous eyes, Quinn's golden locks and both of theirs porcelain skin.

"I love you so much right now," Kurt whispered into her hair when they were finally alone, him next to her on the bed with William between them. "I knew that you were my best friend and I loved you before but Q, you're amazing. Thank you so much for him."

Quinn smiled over at him and then down at their son, this tiny little bundle of perfection dressed in a denim blue sleeper. There would be no adoption papers to sign, no tearful goodbye said through plexiglass, no other mother coming to sweep their child away. They would get to keep this one forever. William was her son, _their_ son, and nothing anyone could ever do would change that. There were so many things racing through Quinn's head but she could only think to say one.

"I love you too, Daddy," she whispered, holding his hand tightly. "I love both of you."

In the end, there was more than just Quinn and Kurt. There was Davis, a stylist from Vogue that Kurt fell in love with during Fashion Week in Paris the year that William turned two. There was Matthew, a fellow lawyer that Quinn met at a mixer the night Kurt and Davis took a three-year-old William to see the latest Pixar on Ice show. There were a pair of bungalows on the same street and four parents who loved William more than anything. There were a pair of adopted twin girls (Lucy and Elizabeth) from Bangladesh for Davis and Kurt and another little blonde boy named Alexander Kurt that Quinn had a year after she got married. There was a dog, Lima Bean, that went between both houses and family vacations and big rambling dinners during holidays where it didn't matter who was biologically linked whatsoever.

So in the end, there was more than just Quinn and Kurt. In there end, there was a family, one that began all because two people fell in love with the idea of their perfect little boy.


	5. Electric Lime: Mercedes & Blaine

_**Electric Lime: Mercedes & Blaine**_

Blaine Anderson sat nervously in the cafe, constantly reaching down to readjust his tie or arrange his cup on the table so that it sat just so. He had never really spent much time in Lima before, but when a familiar name had called him a few days prior, he had agreed to make the two-hour trip from Westerville to meet up with her. Mercedes had asked him not to say anything to Kurt. There were just some things she thought she needed to tell the boy who was becoming her best friend's new best friend.

"Hi, I'm Mercedes!" she said warmly when she finally arrived. "Sorry that I'm late. Rachel called a big meeting. We're getting ready for the competition."

Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "We've been hard at work on the setlist for weeks," he replied with a bright smile. He started to reach out his hand but she quickly pulled him into a hug. "I guess that you know I'm Blaine Anderson."

"You're about the only thing my boy Kurt's been talking about since he got to Dalton," she giggled before sitting across from him. She nodded at a girl behind the counter in what he supposed was her form of an order. A minute later, a cup of coffee made its way to the table. "I really appreciate you coming all the way over here. There is something I need to talk to you about, a favor I need to ask, and I wanted to do it in person."

"Is it Kurt? Is he okay?"

She smiled at him again, this time even bigger than the last. Mercedes could tell that he genuinely cared about Kurt and that made her trust Blaine with him. "I know that you know how Kurt ended up at Dalton. I still feel guilty that we didn't do enough to protect him," she admitted softly. She went on when Blaine started console her; she couldn't listen to him tell her that they'd done enough when they hadn't. "And I know that Dalton is a really good place for him to be now. He's so excited when he talks about the Warblers, and most importantly, he feels safe."

"But he misses you guys," Blaine pointed out. "He doesn't say it much but I see it in his face all the time. We're great, I think, but we're not the friends he had here."

Mercedes carded her fingers through her long hair. "Kurt is so special, Blaine, the absolute best person I know. He is my best friend in the world, and there was a time when he was my only friend," she explained. "And while I think Dalton is good for him, I worry that it's going to change him. It's all about conformity there, and I don't want that school to stomp out what makes him special. Kurt is electric, this magnetic personality that you just gravitate toward. I know that the zero-tolerance policy and matching uniforms and standard-issue polite personalities have their benefits, but Kurt shouldn't have to lose what makes him unique so he can fit in there anymore than he should have had to at McKinley."

Blaine looked down into his Americano and understood why Mercedes had asked him to meet her here. "You want me to take care of him."

"I can't be there all the time to make sure he keeps radiating light, so I'm trusting you to make sure that he doesn't lose his shine."

"Oh, Mercedes," Blaine murmured, reaching across the small bistro table to take her hand. "Now I know why Kurt chose you as a best friend. Of course I will watch out for him. Kurt could never lose what makes him special, but I promise I won't let Dalton change him."

Mercedes knew that Blaine was doing his job two weeks later at Sectionals when Kurt was the only Warbler with a lime silk pocket square.


	6. Fuzzy Wuzzy: Tina & Sam

_**Fuzzy Wuzzy: Tina & Sam**_

"This has to be the most messed up wedding party of all time."

Tina laughed loudly when Sam said that, the two of them tucked in the corner of the restaurant's dance floor while the two grooms danced happily beneath the spotlight. It was a small, intimate crowd made up mostly of immediate family and close friends. She could make out Burt and Carole sitting at their table, the two of them tucked into deep conversation with Rachel's fathers. Blaine's parents were talking with Cooper next to the sparse cake table. The only other guests - Rachel, Santana and strangely, Puck - were laughing and dancing together by the bar.

"You know that Blaine's been trying to hook us up all week, right?"

It was Sam's turn to laugh. It was the middle of July the summer after their first year of college, and the three of them haven't gotten to see each other much all semester. However, in the midst of the wedding plans and coordination of schedules, Blaine had begun to not-so-subtly hint how happy he'd be if his two best friends were to end up together. As nice as that dream was, neither Sam nor Tina had any real romantic feelings toward each other. He was happy to single, and she was still hung up on Mike Chang.

"I'm just glad that we're such good friends," he told her warmly. He tried to imagine sometimes what it would be like to be with Tina, but she was too much like his sister. She didn't change the way his heart beat like Quinn or Brittany had. "And I'm glad that I got to share co-best man duties with you. Can you imagine if he stuck me with Santana?"

"Poor Rachel," Tina giggled she watched the unlikely trio bopping around across the floor from them. "Then again, I sorta feel sorry for Santana too. Can you imagine living with those two while Rach was doing the first run of the show and Kurt was planning the wedding? I'm just thankful that Blaine didn't have to do more of it because Kurt drove me insane with the thirteen phone calls it took before he could decide on which shade of black my shoes should be."

"And Puck was there to kind of balance them out so there's that," Sam sighed. His mind drifted toward the one person who should be there but couldn't. It had been a year since they had lost Finn, and when it had come time for Kurt to get married, everyone had been surprised when Puck had stepped into the brotherly role for his late best friend. Kurt had been skeptical at first, but now they had an unexpected closeness that Sam knew Finn had a hand in somehow. He also couldn't help but wonder if the quarterback was also behind the way Puck and Rachel had been circling each other all week while getting ready for the wedding. "Just think, we're going to get to see it all up close and in person when we're both in New York next year."

"I am so glad you decided to transfer and take that modeling gig on the side," she smiled at him. "With everyone else busy with their own stuff, it'll be nice to have one of my best friends around again."

"I'll be right down the hall," he promised to his new roommate. "And I'll even stay at Puck's or get really good earplugs for when Chang comes to town."

Tina blushed prettily under his insinuation. "Shut up."

"You look really beautiful tonight, Tina," he complimented her. It was full of that particular type of fuzzy affection that only came after years of true friendship. He had missed that, missed her, this year. "What do you say we go steal away our best friend for a dance? Kurt gets to hog him for the rest of his life, but I think we should get one last moment."

"One last moment for what?" Blaine asked as he appeared magically at their side.

Tina and Sam laughed in unison. "One last moment with your best friends."

"Aw, you guys, you'll always be my best friends," he promised as he threw one arm around Sam's shoulders and then wrapped the other around Tina's waist. "Besides, when you two finally fall in love, we can buy houses side by side in the suburbs so our kids can grow up together."

Tina hip checked Blaine playfully while Sam replied, "Dream on, dude."

Sam wasn't in love with Tina and he wasn't in love with Blaine but he was in love with the family that the three of them had built together during a year when they really hadn't had anyone else.

Blaine reminded them of that moment ten years later when Mike and Tina closed on a house next to Kurt and Blaine's in Westchester. Sam had moved into the neighborhood first with his wife, a pretty nurse named Katie he met on the subway his last year of college. Blaine and Tina had been the best men at his wedding, just as Blaine and Sam had stood up with Tina. They even raised their children together just like the three best friends always said that they would. And when Sam and Tina danced together years later as Sydney Evans and Henry Chang celebrated their brand new marriage, they decided that maybe that first wedding party hadn't been so messed up after all.


	7. Goldenrod: Mike & Quinn

_**Goldenrod: Mike & Quinn**_

"Do you remember when I dated Brittany?"

Quinn wrinkled her brow in confusion as she looked at her boyfriend of more than a year across the table at their favorite diner. "Yeah, for like three months during sophomore year?" she asked rhetorically before reaching over to cover his hand with hers. "Mike, honey, what's this all about?"

"Sometimes I wonder why I wasted so much time trying to find this," he confessed with a small voice. He knew the answer; they both did. There had always been someone else (Brittany and Tina for him, Sam and Finn and Puck for her), but in the back of his mind, there had always been Quinn. There were some days when he still couldn't believe that he had her. "Did you ever know that I had feelings for you sophomore year? Back before Finn and you started dating and the whole thing with Puck happened, I saw you first. You were coming into school one day late and I was on my way to algebra when you came through the front door. Your hair was down in these waves around your shoulders, and I swear, it looked just like spun gold. The sun lit you from behind, and you looked just like an angel."

Of all the guys she had been with, Mike Chang was by far the most romantic and the most sentimental. They had met up with each other after college, when she had gotten an offer at a publishing house in Chicago and he had started to teach classes with the Joffrey. He had been the only person she had known in the city, so he ended up introducing her around to everyone he knew. It had only taken a couple months before he was confessing his feelings for her. That had been over a year ago, and now they shared an apartment near Lake Michigan and she knew that a ring was likely just around the corner. His parents still weren't thrilled that she wasn't Asian, but it was difficult to have too much of an issue with a successful literary editor with Yale credentials to back her up.

She contemplated for a moment what it would have been like if he would have approached her first back in high school. She had a hard time imagining what that would look like and knew she probably wouldn't have gone for him. "I'm glad that we didn't find each other until now," she finally decided aloud. "I don't think I would have appreciated you the right way. I cheated on Finn and Sam both, and Puck and I were a disaster from the start. I cared about them all, of course, but I didn't know how to love them properly like I love you now."

He reached over and tugged on one of her curls affectionately. "Such a sap," he teased her because she was anything but. "I guess you're right. Brittany and I never fell in love, but we became really good friends. And Tina was the perfect girlfriend to have in high school. I can't really regret that."

"Beth means that I don't get to regret anything," she reminded him softly. They both saw her biological daughter monthly now that Shelby had settled in Chicago to teach classes at DePaul. Puck regularly Skyped with her and came in whenever his touring schedule would allow. There had finally been enough time, distance and growth where Quinn could accept those people for the mismatched family that they'd become. Mike had been a driving force behind that. "And I wouldn't anyways because it brought me to you."

Mike leaned across the table and brushed his lips to hers. "I love you, Goldenrod."

She grinned warmly at her favorite pet name of his. "Love you too."


	8. Hot Magenta: Brittany & Santana

_**Hot Magenta: Brittany & Santana**_

The only thing Brittany said when Santana proposed is that she wanted to wear pink.

They were two years out of high school, sharing a crappy sublet with Puck in West Hollywood where Santana did commercial work, Brittany taught hip hop aerobics at a little studio and Puck bartended between open mic nights. They barely had enough money for rent between the three of the most months, but when Santana inherited a decent ring from her grandmother, she knew that she couldn't let the opportunity pass her by.

"Don't worry, Puck, we're going to stay with you," Brittany promised him the same night over cold pizza leftover from the bar he worked at. "You're our person, you know, our family. We're not going to leave you on your own."

It's that promise that makes the self-professed badass hand over $300 in saved-up tips to Santana the next weekend. "Get Britt that pink dress she won't shut up about," he grumbled when he pressed the cash into the Latina's hand. She knew that he had been saving it for a plane ticket home for Hanukkah and wanted to refuse. However, the proud look in his hazel eyes reminded her that he was her best friend and that he wanted to do this for them. "Just make sure it's short so I have something hot to look at during the reception."

"What do you think of this one?" Santana asked when she took Brittany to a little discount boutique a few days later. It was a soft, champagne pink with a full skirt made of layered tulle. "It looks bridal."

"It looks like a cupcake," Brittany decided, cocking her head to the side. "It reminds me of Rachel Berry."

Shaking off thoughts of her former brunette advisory, Santana offered up another dress. This one had long sleeves and was made of blush-colored lace. "It's surprisingly pretty," Santana said, admiring the open back and little cap sleeves. "i'm not sure it's as revealing as Puck would prefer though."

"Well, it's Puck's day too," Brittany reminded her, even if it wasn't. She was just about to pick up some horrendous bubblegum pink shift when her hand landed on a strapless hot pink empire dress. It was a simple sheath that stood out amongst the sea of pink. "Oh, San, look at it. This is the one."

It was bright and screamed everything but bridal. However, as she watched Brittany's eyes light up, Santana knew that it had to be that dress and this girl to make her feel that way. She smiled at Brittany's reflection as the tall blonde held the fabric to her frame. "Puck will definitely approve of that length," she teased before pressing a kiss to Brittany's neck. "I can't wait until we get married."

Brittany turned around in the circle of her arms. "So let's not wait! I got my dress. We can call Puck and have him meet us down at City Hall. I'll even spring for In 'N Out afterward. You know how happy Puck gets when he gets his Animal Style on."

And so the world's most impromptu wedding was hatched. Within a half hour, Puck was dragging a garment bag behind him when he met Santana outside a woman's bathroom at the far end of the hall. She took the black Calvin Klein slipdress, a relic from her days with her father's bottomless credit card limit, and changed quickly. Puck managed to scam a bunch of flowers from a landscaper working outside and insisted that he walk each of the girls down the aisle. It was official fifteen minutes later, and Brittany had sat a plateful of burgers down in front of their mutual best friend as promised with the hour.

"You guys aren't going to stop having sex now that you're married, right?" he asked between bites of food. Sauce dribbled down his chin, his hazel eyes sparkling. "Cause you two are some of my best spank bank material now. I haven't had anything this good since San and Lauren got into that fight in high school."

Santana scowled at him while Brittany laughed. "Duh, no way," Brittany promised before gazing at her new wife. They had definite plans for a whole lot of sex later, especially since Puck was going to stay with one of the guys from the bar so they could have the place to themselves. Then she smiled at her friend. "Thanks for being our person today."

"I'll always be your person, Britt," he smiled fondly before knocking his foot against Santana's under the table. "Yours too, Satan."

"Just promise me that I can wear my pink dress when I walk you down the aisle when you marry Rachel Berry," Brittany told him seriously.

"Huh?"

"Oh, yeah, she didn't tell you yet?" Santana grinned. "Brittany's decided that you're going to marry Manhands, and she's already found just the dress."

"She'll love it," Brittany promised before kissing Santana happily n the cheek. "All brides deserve to wear pink!"


	9. Inchworm: Puck & Finn

_**Inchworm: Puck & Finn**_

"Which one's yours?" Puck looked over at the older man who had paused beside him, nose pressed to the glass as he gazed at the babies resting in their bassinets in the nursery. "That one in the second row, with the pink bow on top, she's my great-granddaughter. Name's Mazie, my third one if you can believe it."

Puck smiled fondly at the baby and then over at the man. "She's beautiful," he complimented him warmly. Fatherhood had a funny way of doing that to a guy. "Mine is the little guy down in front with all the dark hair."

"Looks strong, real healthy," the guy praised with a grin that matched Puck's. "This your first one?"

"Second one," Puck replied. He might not be raising Beth, but she was still his still his little girl. He saw her regularly now and that's what mattered. "I have a ten-year-old daughter named Beth. She's excited about being a big sister. She wanted the baby to be a girl, but I think she'll be okay with a boy once she sees him."

"Does your boy have a name yet?"

"Nathaniel Finn," Puck grinned. "The middle name is after his father."

"Your name's Finn?"

"Noah, actually," he replied. "I mean his other father, my husband. We had a surrogate. I'm the biological parent, but we're both the fathers."

Puck waited for the inevitable reaction he usually got in Ohio. However, the man just smiled at him crookedly before returning his gaze to the nursery. "My youngest son got married a couple years ago to a nice young man named Brock. They recently adopted a three-year-old from Vietnam," he told Puck before extending his right hand out. "My name is Edward. It's nice to meet you, Noah."

"You too, sir," Puck said politely. "Is your wife excited to have another great grandchild?"

"I imagine she would be, son," Edward answered. "We lost my Gloria last year to cancer. We were married fifty-six years, would have been fifty-seven next month." Puck didn't miss the sad, wistful inflection in his voice. "Can I give you a piece of advice, Noah? Don't take a single day for granted. It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness that comes along with kids, but let me tell you, the days go by so fast. Cherish each one of them. Cherish the time you have with your Finn."

Just then, he caught sight of his Finn coming down the hallway. The taller man grinned at him as he balanced an oversized bear on his hip, the same one that Finn had eyed in the gift shop earlier before Monica, their surrogate, had called to tell them it was time. Finn slid the bear to the floor next to the nursery door before coming over to stand behind Puck. He rested one hand low on his back, his chin finding its way to Puck's shoulder. Puck couldn't help but reach up to cover Finn's other hand.

"How's our little guy doing?"

"Nurse said he should be ready for a feeding in about an hour," Puck said without taking his eyes off where Nathaniel was resting. "Finn, dude, I want you to meet Edward. His granddaughter just gave birth to the little girl in the middle row."

Finn reached over to shake Edward's hand before peering over Puck's shoulder at the baby. "She's a looker, sir," Finn praised. "She reminds me a little bit of Beth, don't you think? I guess all babies kind of look the same though. If Nate didn't already have so much hair, I'd be scared that they're going to mix him up with one of the other baldies in there."

"Dad?"

Edward looked down the hallway and then nodded with a grin. "That's my son down there, the new grandpa," he explained. "I guess I should be going. It was nice to meet you boys. You take real good care of that Nathaniel, okay? And congratulations, I can already tell that you're going to be great parents!"

"Thank you, sir," Finn said politely. "Congratulations to you as well."

"Yeah, congrats," Puck echoed, gripping the man's hand tightly. He looked into Edward's kind blue eyes and smiled. He was the kind of father he wished he would have had growing up, the kind that Kurt had and that Finn eventually got with Burt. "Take care, Edward."

"You too, Noah," he returned. "And remember what I told you..."

"I will," he promised. Edward nodded in confirmation and then headed down the hallway to meet up with his son.

When he turned around the corner, Finn turned back to his husband questioningly. "What are you supposed to remember?"

"That you made me the luckiest man in the world when you decided you loved me. I don't ever want to forget how much I need you," Puck answered softly. Finn smiled then, reaching up to cup his cheek with loving affection. "Love you, dude."

"Me too, man," Finn said. "And Inchworm, I love our little Inchworm."

"First Drizzle and now Inchworm. What are you gonna call the next one?"

Finn's face lit up. "There's going to be another one?"

"Yeah, dude, of course," Puck assured him. "The world needs another Finn Hudson."

"Can we name him Luigi?"

Puck had to chuckle and shake his head. "And that right there is exactly why you need me."


	10. Jade: Mike & Rachel

_**Jade: Mike & Rachel**_

Somewhere between leaving the Joffrey and taking a role as a dancer in the latest version of "Rent," Mike Chang had become best friends with Rachel Berry. This came with a certain set of responsibilities that he took very seriously, including but not limited to protecting her virtue against unseemly male suitors. He had been decent at keeping the womanizers at bay until now. He always just feigned jealousy and they seemed to disappear rather than deal with the jerk of a best friend. It was a pretty good plan too until Noah Puckerman decided that he wanted to pursue Puckleberry 2.0.

"Michael, you know that Noah has been perfectly lovely to me since he stopped throwing slushies at me sophomore year," she replied when he tried to remind her about his bullying back in high school. "He's grown up since then as have I. I really like him, and I want you to be happy for us. No pretending that you're in love with me or whatever it is that you do when you decide I'm not strong enough to endure a relationship with a man."

He smiled at her innocently. "I do no such thing," he lied. She rolled her eyes but nudged her shoulder against his nonetheless. The truth was that they were more like siblings than anything romantic. It wasn't that he hadn't considered it; Rachel was far too beautiful and talented for him not to think about it. However, all the love he had for her was purely platonic. "I just don't want to see you hurt, Rach. I know what he was like back in high school and I have a hard time believing he's changed."

"Why is it so hard to believe? Look at us! We barely talked back at McKinley, and now I can safely say that no one knows me better than you. Noah went through a lot during those last two years of high school and even more since then. There are things you don't know, Michael, probably things I don't know too," she admitted with a certain kind of sadness. "He's a good man, and he treats me better than anyone has ever, even Finn. I'm falling in love with him, and I see a future with him. Spend some time getting to know him again and you'll see that he's not the same guy who used to sleep with cougars when we were teenagers."

He had always been friends with Puck. Mike never judged him for the mistakes he made with Quinn or chose sides between him and Finn. He'd always had his back just like he had the other guys. The truth was that he knew that the formerly mohawked Puckerone was a good guy who had been dealt a rough hand. He just didn't want to see Rachel hurt. It had taken her a long time to get over Bordy and Finn.

"You're sure about him?"

She nodded resolutely before throwing her arms around his neck. "I'm sure, Michael," she answered confidently. "Just like I'm sure that you're the best best friend a girl could ask for. I'll let Noah know that he better behave or he'll have you to answer to, okay?"

"Deal," he grinned before squeezing her again.

Later, when Puck came to pick Rachel up from Mike's apartment, Mike didn't give his old friend a hard time or throw him the stink eye. He just clapped Puck on the shoulder and told them to have fun at the concert Rachel had been looking forward to for weeks. She smiled at Puck like he hung the moon and there was a lot to be said about that. There was also a lot to be said about the way Puck held Rachel's hand like she was the most precious thing on the earth. He really was lovely to her, and now that he knew Rachel was okay, Mike decided it was time to find a lovely girl of his own.


	11. Key Lime: Tina & Mercedes

_**Key Lime: Tina & Mercedes**_

The summer after Mercedes breaks up with Sam and Mike breaks up with Tina, the two girls decide to take a weeklong trip down to the Florida Keys on a whim. It's the first time the friends will be apart in years, with Mercedes landing on the West Coast to start working on her album and Tina staying back in Lima for her senior year. Mercedes had always been Tina's best friend, even if she wasn't Mercedes's (that belonged to Kurt). Neither of them know what they're going to do without the other around in the months to come.

"Who else is going to let out those killer notes?" Tina worried when she thought about the glee club's lack of a ringer.

"I guess you'll just have to lead now," Mercedes reminded her. "You can do it, Tina. You always had the potential, and without Berry around, it's going to be your time to really let it shine. Besides, at least you'll still have people who have your back! I'll be in LA all alone."

"Puck will be there. He can always help you out in a pinch. You know he would," Tina reasoned, even if she wasn't sure it was true. She believed it probably was. "And you don't need anyone else to do this. This is all you, Mercedes. Your voice and your talent are too big for Lima, Ohio. I know that everyone always said that about Rachel, but I think it's even more true about you."

"Oh, Tina," Mercedes laughed. The Asian girl was always an undercover softie, hidden beneath the gothic threads and dark eyeliner. "Enough of this feeling sad, we're going out dancing!"

Dressed to the nines with all the swagger the two could muster, they ended up at some beachfront disco that let out into the sand beneath the hot July moon. Tina was proud when Mercedes ended up pressed against some tall guy they said played defensive line for the Dolphins. Mercedes was equally impressed when Tina fell into conversation with a tall Asian guy in glasses that looked the perfect mix of both her ex-boyfriends. But they went home together at the end of the night, just the two girls, and holed up in their pajamas in their hotel beds, giggling over junk food from the mini bar.

"Who else is going eat junk food with me at 2 am?" Tina complained.

"I'll get Blaine on it," Mercedes promised. "You convince Puck."

"I've seen him eat after a football game. It won't take much convincing."

"You're gonna be okay, Tina," Mercedes said in a soft voice. "You're going to be amazing."

"I know, I know," Tina smiled back. "But thanks for telling me. You know you got this too, right?"

"Of course, I'm a diva," Mercedes grinned. "Alright, enough of this melodramatic dialogue on growing up, we're starting to sound like Rachel. What do you say we prank Kurt?"

Tina threw her head back and laughed. "I happen to do a really great Ryan Gosling."


	12. Lavender: Kurt & Sam

**_Lavender: Kurt & Sam_**

There was kind of an unsung hero in the whole losing Finn thing.

Kurt had watched his friends mourn. He had watched Rachel mourn. He had watched his parents mourn. He had watched his old teachers and the people he knew at school and his dad's employees mourn. He had watched himself mourn. The thing he missed during all that watching is that someone was watching him mourn.

Blaine had been pretty great during that rough period, making extra phone calls and coming to New York when he could. However, Blaine didn't understand what it felt like to lose Finn; he couldn't really. The two of them had never been especially close despite their connection to Kurt, and even when they had gotten along, there had always been a competitive edge to their friendship that kept it from being anything more.

On the other hand, Puck probably understood what it was like to lose Finn better than anyone. That grief meant, however, that the two of them were competing for who missed him most. Kurt knew it was stupid to look at it that way, but if that argument over the coat taught him anything, they weren't capable of really being there for each other at that point in time. He wanted to be supportive of Puck because he knew it was what Finn would want. He just couldn't pull it off with any real authenticity when he was still trying to figure out how he felt himself.

That only left one person. Sam was there after they had cleaned out Finn's bedroom to carry the boxes down to the donation van. Sam was there to have coffee with Carole in the wee hours of the morning when she was missing her son so much that she couldn't breathe. Sam was there to silently watch football with Burt when they both knew that it should have been Finn slumped over in the old brown recliner. Sam was there to send Kurt random texts like Finn used to and to listen to his New York stories and do all the brotherly things that no one else could do. Sam was there when Kurt came back to Lima and found himself sitting at the counter with a mug of warm milk on a night where sleep just wouldn't come.

"Couldn't sleep?" the blonde asked as he padded into the kitchen, swiping at his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Hmm, no," Kurt murmured as he hugged the porcelain mug between his palms. It was Finn's favorite, an old chipped monstrosity that Puck had painted for Carole for Mother's Day in 2003. "I can't get over how quiet the house is still. I keep thinking I'll get used to it, but I never do. Rather than stare at my ceiling, I thought I'd come down here for a warm cup of milk."

Sam knew from Blaine's stories that warm milk had been a Finn thing. "My mom always sprayed my sheets with this lavender stuff when I couldn't sleep when I was a kid," he rambled. "Do you think you could make me a cup? I'd do it myself but I always end up scalding it. I don't want to ruin anything."

Kurt busied himself with a pan while Sam chattered mindlessly about an upcoming basketball game. He paid enough attention to make the appropriate sounds in all the right places, but both boys knew he wasn't really paying attention. He never really listened to Finn either. It was more about the hum of the conversation, the comfort of just having someone there. Kurt had never stopped to think about how hard it must be for Sam to be there after Finn died and he went back to New York.

"Sam, I know that it's probably been difficult these past few months," Kurt said as he sat the mug down in front of his friend. "I just want you to know how much I appreciate you being there for my parents. I know that I should have done better; I will do better. Still, you being around to help them and listen to them and spend time with them – I know it's made the difference."

"I love Burt and Carole," Sam replied dismissively. "Just like I loved Finn. I know he wasn't my brother like he was yours or my best friend like he was to Puck, but Finn and I were close in our own way. I feel like I'm doing something he'd like by being there for your parents. I just hope you know that I'm there for you too."

"I do," Kurt smiled.

The next night, just as Kurt was about to go to sleep, he found a small notecard and a travel bottle of lavender-scented linen spray on his pillow. Inside, Sam had written, "Thanks for the milk, bro. Get some sleep."

Kurt slept for twelve hours straight.


	13. Mellow Yellow: Artie & Blaine

_**Mellow Yellow: Artie & Blaine**_

"Dude, I am going to get hammered."

Blaine looked up from his calculus homework and frowned at Artie. "What's wrong?"

"Kitty broke up with me," the bespectacled boy moaned. "Why do all the hot girls I get break up with me? Tina lied, so I guess I technically broke up with her. And I did call Brittany stupid, but that was only because she cheated on me with Santana. Technically, I guess I never dated Quinn but she totally quit paying attention to me when Teen Jesus showed up. Don't even get me started on Sugar either. I don't know what happened with her. She just sorta disappointed out of thin air last year."

Once he was sure that the rant was complete, Blaine did the only thing he could in the face of girl troubles. He reached out and patted his friend on his shoulder. "What do you say I buy?"

An hour later, the two of them were sprawled out in the Anderson basement with Fight Club muted on the big screen and Motown R&B playing on the old record player in the corner. Blaine had called Sam in for reinforcements, asking his best friend to bring whatever he could get out of the Hummel garage in a vain attempt to cheer up Artie. Blaine still wasn't the best at this whole bromance thing. He had always had Puck around before to provide the refreshments when one of the guys was down and Finn was good at providing distractions in the form of action movies and video games. Still, hanging out consistently with Sam had given him a few weapons for his arsenal. He could also do something that the others probably wouldn't.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, holding the bottled beer loosely in his fingers.

Artie pushed up the bridge of his glasses and shrugged. "She has a thing for Ryder, and since I'll be in New York next year, she thought she should just pursue it now rather than waste the next few months on me."

"That seems…harsh."

"That's Kitty," Artie declared. "She's probably right anyways. Our lives are going to be drastically different in a few months, so maybe it's better to end it now rather than hold onto something that won't last. I will be in New York for film school, and I won't have the time or the money to come back to Ohio to see my high school girlfriend."

Blaine didn't think about how closely that sounded like the relationship he had with his fiancé. Instead, he clapped his friend on the shoulder jovially and nodded in agreement. "We'll both be in New York with Kurt, Santana and Rachel. Hopefully, Sam will come too, and we'll find a new girl to break your heart."

Artie took a big swig of beer and looked at Blaine contemplatively. "Do you really think we'll all still be friends in New York?"

"If Rachel and Kurt can live with Santana for the past eighteen months, man, I truly believe that anything is possible," Blaine pledged. "Kurt and I are going to get our own place next year, and the girls are going to need a roommate. You've always gotten along with Rach and San loves you when you're not her competition for Brit. What do you say?"

"Playing matchmaker, Blaine?" Artie chuckled before nodding along. "Yeah, okay, that might work."

"See, Artie, I told you it would be okay," Blaine teased. "You just know those two girls are going to break you in two; after they get done, you won't even care about a broken heart."

Artie's eyes went wide with true fear. "Oh, god," he moaned. Suddenly breaking up with the likes of Kitty Wilde didn't seem so hard after all.


	14. Navy Blue: Finn & Rachel

**_Navy Blue: Finn & Rachel_**

"You shot yourself in the leg, Finn."

"That was four years ago, Rach. The Navy's different, _I'm_ different."

"But it's still the military and four years and thousands of miles and you being away from me."

"And it's me finishing something that my dad started and achieving a goal I set for myself. It's me figuring out a way to provide for a future, our future, without just having to rely on you and your career. I need to know that I can do this."

"You got through college and have a teaching career. You can do anything!"

"I know that you believe in me, but for once, Rach, this isn't about you. It's about me doing something for myself. I need to do this. I need to find out who I am without Lima and my friends and my mom around all the time. I need to know that I can be on my own."

"You mean you need to know if you can do this without me."

"No, that's not what I meant. I know that I can be without you. We were apart for two years, and you landed Fanny all on your own. You grew into this amazing woman, and you've gone places that you always wanted to go. My dream was never to end up back at McKinley helping Mr. Schue. I wanted to make something of myself. I know that you don't agree with me, but I think I can do that with this."

"Finn, I want to start a life with you…"

"That's all I've ever wanted, baby, and I still believe that we'll get that. You needed to do New York. You told me once how you had this whole plan worked out. You'd do what you wanted to do here and then walk into the choir room and tell me that you're home. I waited for four years for you, Rach, and God knows that I'd wait for you forever. I just think that maybe we can wait for each other this way. I don't know if our future is in New York or Ohio or Bangalore. I just don't think it's here, not right now."

"I love you."

"I know, Rach, I love you too but…"

"It's not about that, I know. It's hard, but I am proud of you, Finn. You're going to look good in your dress blues. You have to promise you'll come home to me, alright? That's the only way any of this will be okay. Please say you'll promise."

"I promise, baby, I promise."


	15. Outer Space: Sam & Brittany

**_Outer Space: Sam & Brittany_**

It was a quiet, surprisingly cool Ohio night when Brittany found him. He was laying on his back on a blanket in the park, staring up at the expanse of stars in wonder.

It had been a long year for both of them, their first on their own away from the comforts of Lima, Ohio. Brittany has surprisingly thrived in Boston and had somehow managed a nearly perfect grade point average at MIT. Sam had ended up in LA after a West Coast modeling agency took interest him and brought him out from New York. They hadn't spoken since graduation, not even when they both had managed to be home at the same time during the holidays when he had come back to see the Hummels and she was at her parents'. He hadn't even known she was home now, but he wasn't surprised that she had known that he was there.

"I'm glad it's not too hot," she said as she slipped off her flip flops and lay down beside him. He murmured his agreement. "I've missed you."

Things like that always came out of nowhere when it came to Brittany. "Yeah, me too."

"Are you going to be here all summer?"

"Maybe, I don't know," he said. He really hadn't had much of a plan when he had packed up his Jeep and driven back to the place he still thought of as home. Even with his family in Kentucky, Lima was where he felt like he belonged. Besides, Carole hated the quietness of an empty house, and Sam liked the feeling of being needed. "I'll have to fly out some for shoots, but yeah, I think so. I've missed it."

"Boston is lonely," she confessed quietly. "I have a ton of friends and there's always something to do. I shouldn't be lonely when there are people everywhere, but I do. I miss you and Santana and Artie and Tina all the time." She paused and sighed. "Santana's new girlfriend is really nice. And way pretty. I'm glad she's happy. I feel like she's going to be okay." Sam knew what something like that meant to Brittany. She had always worried about her ex-girlfriend. "I'm still not so sure about you."

"I get by, Britt," he replied. He tried not to be mad at her, but it sucked the way things had ended between them. She had just left him without any real explanation. He would have made things work with her, but she had felt like she needed to do MIT on her own. The only thing he had heard was that she wanted to do it without him. "You don't need to worry about me anymore; you're not my girl."

"Oh, Sammy," she said seriously as she turned onto her stomach so she could look down at him. "I'm always going to be your girl. We're soulmates, remember? I didn't forget what we promised."

He smiled up at her fondly, thinking about their wedding last year. It had been silly, of course, but he had cherished those days with Brittany as his 'wife.' He liked knowing that she had chosen him because no one really had before. Quinn had cheated on him with Finn and Mercedes had wanted her career. Brittany had picked him over Santana, and maybe that's why he felt so disappointed when she left him for Boston.

"Me neither," he finally allowed. "So what are you doing the rest of the summer?"

"This," she exhaled as she smiled down at him and then rolled onto her back to gaze up at the stars again. "Nothing but this."

Sam chuckled easily. "Want to do nothing with me?"

Brittany reached for his hand blindly and threaded their fingers together. "There's nothing I'd rather do than do nothing with you."


	16. Pacific Blue: Mercedes & Puck

**_Pacific Blue: Mercedes & Puck_**

"I never thought I'd see this."

It's their first day in Los Angeles, and Puck had convinced Mercedes to come down to the beach with him so they could watch the sunset. His old truck is parked up on the sand just over the hill, and the area is surprisingly quiet for an early summer evening. She'll start on her album tomorrow and he already has a half-dozen cleaning appointments but for tonight, they're just two eighteen-year-olds from a small town in Ohio gazing out over the Pacific for the first time.

"It's prettier than the Atlantic," Mercedes decides as she digs her bare toes in the sand. Puck nods in agreement. "Everything seems prettier here, shinier and sparkly."

"It kinda feels like everything before California doesn't matter, huh?" he asks rhetorically. "I mean, not the important stuff like Beth but the other shit, like juvie and my crap grades and all the trouble I got into. No one knows about that stuff out here. I could be anyone I want without my dad's reputation to follow me around."

"And I'm not in Rachel Berry's shadow anymore or just Kurt's sidekick. I'm the one who gets to be the focus this time around," she adds. It's a nice thought, even if she's just a starting contract artist who has a budget of like $50 to record a demo. "But I think I don't want to lose the parts of who I was because they made me who I am. That seems to be working okay for you too."

Puck glances up at her for a moment and then out at the water. "I'm not sure I know who I am."

"I do," she declares boldly. "You're my friend. You're a talented guitarist and a surprisingly good brother and a proud father. You're a decent athlete and really funny without trying and a weirdly devout Jew when you want to be. You're Noah Puckerman, Puck most of the time and Noah to the rare few who get to use the name."

"Ma, my sister, Berry and San," he rattles off. "The four scariest chicks I'll ever know."

"Do you miss them?"

"Ma and my sister, yeah, a lot actually. More than I thought I would, it's always been the three of us," he explains. "Family's important you know. Miss Finn too, never done much without him by my side. I don't miss Berry talking all the time but I like how she always sees the best in me. And San's always been my girl but I don't have to miss her too much. She'll end up here eventually, you just watch." He pauses briefly. "What about you?"

"I miss Sam. We just started again and then I got the offer," she thinks aloud. "And I miss Kurt and Rachel and Tina. I think I'll always miss the way things were in high school because we all had something really special, you know? Doesn't mean I don't want to move on; God help me, I've been waiting my whole life. I'll just always wish that I could have a little bit of it back."

He starts to say something and then closes his mouth. "Well, I'll be around whenever you need a reminder," he promises before standing up and reaching for her hand. He pulled his friend to her feet and then slung his shoulder over her shoulder heartily. "What do you say to some cheap beer and nachos at that Mexican place down the beach? The sun's pretty much gone, and the night is young."

"Yeah, sounds good," she agrees as she slips her feet back into her sandals and follows him back toward the truck. She stops to look back at the ocean and then smiles at him over the top of the hood. "I'm really glad you're here, Puck."

"Me too, Jones," he grins. "Me too."


	17. Quartz: Tina & Mike

**_Quartz: Tina & Mike_**

"You're late."

Mike caught Tina's eye in the mirror that hung above his dressing table. She was still as beautiful as she was at seventeen as she reached absently into her oversized tote to retrieve a pacifier and then adjusted her watch. "Yes, well, your daughter thought that it was time to be fed, and I can't really do that and drive at the same time," she reminded him with a teasing smile. She leaned over and brushed a kiss to his cheek, mindful of the thick stage makeup he was wearing for the ballet. "How much time do we have until you go on?"

Just then, the house lights flashed to indicate their ten-minute warning. "I'm supposed to be warming up side stage right now," he explained before grabbing his black satin shoes. He stopped to smooth his daughter's black hair affectionately. "If you think she's down for the count, I can set you up so you can watch from the wings."

Tina was at the theater most nights if she could make it. It had been easier before the baby had come, but she had started bringing Eliza once she was a little older. The other dancers loved to fawn over her, smiling and making all the appropriate noises between numbers. Even their strict director was a fan of the little girl, giving Tina special permission to pad around backstage whenever she wanted to bring Eliza by for a visit.

The little Chang family of three filed into the masses that were swarming around behind the thick velvet curtains. Tina smiled and waved to the statuesque ballerina playing Cinderella to Mike's Prince Charming. She would have been jealous of the girl's pure grace and beauty if Mike had been a different kind of guy, but instead, they had become good friends with the dancer and her husband. In fact, they'd built a strong network of friends in the industry once Mike had started with the New York City Ballet five years ago. She preferred them to the stiffs at the law firm where she was a junior partner in their entertainment division. Artists were always more fun, and she had just enough of that rebellious goth left in her to appreciate a good free spirit when she saw one.

Tina and Eliza settled into their usual seat as the dancers took their places. Mike was a stronger dancer than he had been in high school, skills honed by his years with the Joffrey and then at NYCB. She never grew tired of watching him. He shined tonight in his white costume, a sparkling bright spot in the midst of the sea of black tutus and spandex. He was so enthralled as his character when he was on stage, but as soon as the curtain fell, he was back to being just another father, doting over his fussy daughter as she fought sleep amongst the thunderous applause. Tina handed her over so that he could hold her during the intermission, a tradition that had started the first time he'd come back to dance after Eliza had been born. As much as she loved watching him dance, she loved this even better.

"My girls," he mused as he pressed a kiss to Eliza's downy hair and then drew Tina to his side. He was still sweaty and would be back at center stage in less than five minutes. "I'm really glad you're here tonight."

"You say that every night."

"And I never stop meaning it," he told her warmly. The overhead lights blinked again, and he reluctantly handed Eliza back over to his wife. "I gotta head back out there. I'll see you at next intermission, right?"

"We'll be here," she promised.

She always was.


	18. Raw Umber: Artie & Quinn

**_Raw Umber: Artie & Quinn_**

So, Quinn, she had these eyes. Okay, so everyone has eyes, but Artie swore that her eyes were special. They were hazel, which meant that they seemed to change colors, and he never got tired of guessing what shade they would be on any particular day.

They had been a stormy sea green last Tuesday when he had shown up twenty minutes late to her art opening. She had just started at the museum, so it had been really important to have her boyfriend be there for her big night. He had explained about the traffic and apologized with flowers, and she had reluctantly forgiven him when he had charmed her boss with stories about his latest documentary.

Her eyes had been the lightest hue of crystal blue two nights ago after they had gotten caught in the rain coming back from the movies. It had been so long – _too long _ – since he had seen her dance like that, but she had been so carefree as she twirled his chair around on the middle of the New York sidewalk. That was his favorite Quinn, the one who let her walls down long enough to quit worrying about people watching. She hadn't even complained later when she realized her new heels were ruined.

There were other times when her eyes were distinctly gray. It mostly happened when she talked to her parents or around Beth's birthday. Gray meant sad, and Artie had grown to hate the color. Their apartment was always really quiet when her eyes were gray, so he did his best to cheer her up with silly cartoons from when they were kids and by playing old glee songs on his guitar while they lounged around in bed. He'd even been known to break out one of Puck's dirty jokes just to make her smile in spite of herself. But yeah, gray was bad.

But of all the colors her eyes were, his favorite was always raw umber. Whenever he saw that warm honey gaze staring back at him, Quinn just seemed to radiate love. She wore it so well. The first time he'd ever seen it was about two weeks after they'd started dating right after he graduated from film school. He had broken out his old "robot" legs for about two minutes so that he could accompany her down the aisle at Santana and Brittany's wedding. He'd seen it again the first time they'd slept together and then on the perfect summer afternoon in Central Park when he told her that he loved her.

And the night before, the one that came after their spontaneous waltz in the rain, she had turned those gorgeous brown eyes on him again when she agreed to marry him.


	19. Scarlet: Kurt & Blaine

**_Scarlet: Kurt & Blaine_**

Blaine wears his adultery like a brand for six months after Kurt breaks up with him. He mourns the relationship properly and has a pointless crush on Sam and pretends not to notice Tina noticing him.

Kurt wears his heartbreak like a badge of honor for six months after Blaine cheats on him. He sings sad love songs around the loft and throws himself into his work at Vogue and tries fruitlessly to date Adam even when he knows it's going nowhere.

Blaine carries his guilt around with him for six months even after Kurt says what he does when he's in New York for the holidays. He goes through the motions at school and writes emails that he never sends to the man he loves and lets Brittany stroke his hair when she finds him crying one day after gym.

Kurt carries his depression around with him for six months in this secret compartment even after he skated with Blaine at Rockefeller. He lies to his dad when he pretends that he's fine and ignores Rachel when she throws him these sympathetic looks and misses having Finn around all the time just so he could have someone who would understand what he was going through.

And then they hook up at the Schuesters' wedding and Blaine proposes and Finn dies and everything that happened before gets all jumbled up into this confusing mass of emotions that neither of them can decipher.

Kurt cries for two months after Finn dies and nothing Blaine can say or do makes it okay. He's lost his brother and Rachel's a mess and New York suddenly seems really far away from home.

Blaine tries for two months after Finn dies to fix Kurt until he realizes that maybe he can't. He's patient because he can't imagine losing Cooper and Sam's really good at distracting him when Kurt needs time to process and he has a whole future in New York to look forward to.

Kurt lets Blaine hold him on Finn's birthday, doesn't even mind when he starts to cry until they're both red and ruddy and a mess. Carole finds them and cries with them a little until Burt comes home from work and then all four of them spend the next few hours poring over old photo albums until Carole gets a surprise call from Puck to check in.

Blaine lets Kurt know that he loves him unconditionally the night of Finn's birthday, promises that he'll never have to be alone ever again. Rachel shows up with sugar cookies and laughs with them when they find an old video of their Nationals performance and Kurt seems to get back his color at least a little.

And then Blaine graduates from high school and he packs up his old bedroom and heads to New York without a worry in the world. Their loft goes from three to four occupants and then Brittany decides to spend the summer with Santana in the city and Puck somehow manages to get three month's leave to take up residence on Rachel's floor. The six of them have an amazing summer, and one night in August, Kurt tells him that he wants to get married while they're all there together.

Puck gets ordained online and insists on wearing a yarmulke to perform the ceremony. Brittany finds a really bright pink dress at some vintage shop in Soho and demands that she be Blaine's Best Man. Santana steals a leopard mini dress from the Vogue closet and pushes Rachel out of the way when she tries to be the Maid of Honor. Rachel gives Blaine the wedding ring she'd bought for Finn and tells him that it's already been resized to fit Kurt. Kurt is stunning in a slate gray suit beneath the pale moon on their rooftop. Blaine wears Dalton navy and red because that's the first way Kurt ever saw him and he always swore that was the moment he fell in love.


	20. Tickle Me Pink: Finn & Santana

**_Tickle Me Pink: Finn & Santana_**

Santana peered over the edge of the crib down at the little girl grinning back up at her. She was nothing more than a bundle of pale white skin and a swatch of cornsilk blonde hair. She looked like her mom except when she smiled and then she was purely her father. Her goddaughter was beautiful, probably the prettiest little thing she'd ever seen. It was almost (_almost_) enough to make her want one of her own if she ever let Finn actually put a ring on her finger.

"She's so little," Finn mused in wander as he reached down and let Kate wrap her tiny finger around his huge one. He was already a great godfather, probably a lot better than her if she was honest with herself but she totally bought better presents. "Her mouth is going to be as big as Sam's. They're going to have their hands full when she starts noticing boys."

"Quinn's mean enough to scare them off. God knows it worked on you and Puckerman more than once," Santana teased good-naturedly. They'd been together for years now, ever since halfway through college when she decided that she was tired of the girl game and let him hit on her at one of Puck's parties over the summer. She was a lawyer and he taught music over at the elementary school and they'd moved into a little house a few blocks from his parents last summer. "Besides, it's your job to make sure that her boyfriends only have good intentions or some shit like that. I don't know, I didn't really read the rules that Berry emailed over when Q picked me over her."

Finn smiled at that; she knew he loved that they'd been chosen over Rachel and Puck. She knew that Rachel probably made a better choice than her, but Finn was infinitely better than Puck. Besides, the whole Beth thing made the situation messier than either of the former teen parents wanted to deal with. "Well, we can just pick them when we have our first kid."

Santana tried not to grin tellingly at that. "You think about that?" she asked without looking up from Kate's pretty green eyes. The little girl giggled, though she was sure it was just gas. "I didn't know that you thought about having kids with me."

"Duh, San," he chuckled softly, tugging on the end of one of her curls playfully. "We've been together forever and you're the girl I want to be with forever after this. Of course I think of having kids with you. They'll be super smart like you and hopefully regular sized but maybe a little nicer like me and obviously have really, really good voices. Our kids are gonna be perfect because we are together. Can't you imagine it?"

"They should have your smile," she replied softly, finally dragging her gaze away from Kate to look up at her boyfriend. "It's a really great smile."

It's that moment that convinces her to accept his proposal two months later on the stage at their old high school. They get married quickly in a quiet little ceremony in his parents' backyard with only Puck and Brittany there. Their spouses, along with the rest of their friends, complain, but it's what they both wanted. Rachel forgives them a little bit the next year when Santana tearfully asks her to be the godmother, and Finn just sort of tells Puck that he's doing it over beers at the Browns game.

(The baby had Finn's smile.)


	21. Ultra Blue: Kurt & Rachel

**_Ultra Blue: Kurt & Rachel_**

Country had never really been their genre, but as Rachel and Kurt took their place on the stage beneath the pale spotlight at the single microphone, she knew that this was at least their song.

It had been a long, tumultuous year, one filled with highs and lows that still sent her head spinning. Kurt had been there for all of it, oftentimes his own feelings mirroring hers. Looking out at the audience, she could just make out the shadows of the two men who would be waiting for them afterward. They had been the catalyst for everything.

"This isn't the kind of thing we usually sing," Kurt announced as Rachel situated herself on the stool and rested her guitar on her lap. "But sometimes it only takes a song to change everything you know, and when Rach and I heard this song a few weeks ago, we knew that it would become one that belongs to us."

Kurt's eyes darted out to meet Blaine's in the audience. He held the gaze for a long moment before glancing over at Rachel with the slightest nod of his head. They had been singing together for a couple years now, ever since their old band broke up and they'd gotten a standing ovation one night at karaoke in Koreatown.

"Out of all of the places in this little town, yeah, you had to come walking in here and sit down," he sang while Rachel strummed the acoustic guitar. "I'm hiding and hoping my face ain't too red. Since we been over, been trying like crazy to get you out of my head."

"Why you wanna show up in a old t-shirt that I love? Why you gotta tell me that I'm looking good?" Rachel soulfully belted out, her dark eyes finding a pair of hazel ones in the smoky haze of the club. "Don't know what you were thinkin' you were doing moving in for a hug like you don't know I'm coming unglued?"

"Why you gotta, why you wanna make me keep wanting you?" they sang in unison, their voices melding together in perfect harmony.

They'd come to expect the thunderous applause that comes after the song's over and they're making their way down the rickety steps on the side of the stage. Blaine is there waiting for Kurt, his dark eyes hooded with something uncertain. Puck hangs back a little more until Rachel has packed away her guitar and taken a few greedy gulps of water.

"I don't understand," Blaine says as Puck asks, "What are you trying to tell me?"

Rachel just hugs Puck tightly and replies, "Nothing, it's just a song."

"There's nothing to understand," Kurt tells Blaine.

They both lie because Puck and Blaine don't need to get it. Kurt and Rachel understand it; they understand each other. It doesn't make them crave, need, love the other men any less. It just makes them love each other that much more.

* * *

_Lyrics credit to "Why Ya Wanna" by Jana Kramer_


	22. Vivid Violet: Sam & Santana

**_Vivid Violet: Sam & Santana_**

There were a million reasons why Santana and Sam should have never worked, but there was one reason why they did. From the moment he picked her up in Columbus after her grandmother died, Sam had become the one person that Santana could depend on. Brittany hadn't bothered to come back from Boston for the funeral, and Rachel hadn't even pretended that she would take off from the show to accompany her back to Lima. Puck was stationed overseas and Kurt had some big deadline at Vogue and Quinn hadn't even answered her email. In fact, Santana had lost touch with most of her old friends from McKinley after Finn's funeral, so she was surprised when Sam volunteered to drive to the airport to get her.

"Here, let me," he offered when he took her bag and slung it over his broad shoulders. She tried to maneuver her oversized rollerbag off the carousel, but Sam snatched it up too. "I'm in the satellite lot so we'll have to talk a little. The other one was full."

"That's okay, it's nice out," she replied softly. She hated how quiet and her gravelly her voice sounded, but hours of crying next to a stranger on a plane tended to do that. It was spring and warm in Ohio, and it reminded her of lazy afternoons making out with Puck in his truck after football practice freshman year. "Hey, thanks for coming. I know it's out of the way."

Sam looked over at his ex-girlfriend and smiled that big fishy smile of his. Santana could see why she wanted him all those years ago and why both Quinn and Brittany had fallen for him. Sam was a genuinely nice guy. "No worries, I got you, San," he promised, and she knew that he meant more than just the ride. He'd already told her that he would be at the funeral, and since she really didn't talk to her parents, she was glad for the support. She'd been pretty awful to Sam but losing Finn had changed something in all of them. She had been the one to hold him that day in the choir room, and everything before that moment didn't matter anymore.

He handed her a little bouquet of flowers once they were back at his car, an old beat-up thing that Burt had helped him get a good deal on when he graduated from high school. "They're supposed to symbolize spirituality and confidence," he told her as she inhaled the violets. "I figured you could use a little of both right now."

She put the flowers in an old coffee mug and sat it in her window after Sam had dropped her and her luggage off at her parents' house. It only took her an hour before she felt stifled from being in her childhood bedroom. She found herself texting Sam, begging him to come get her so she could avoid listening her mother argue with her father about something that really didn't matter yet again. He didn't even get the chance to throw the car in park before she was jumping back in the passenger seat.

"I see you like the flowers," he said, nodding up toward her open window and then fingering the small bunch she had tucked behind her ear.

Hours later, after they'd eaten greasy fast food on the hood of his car down at the lake, Santana reached over and squeezed his hand. He didn't let go until he was unlocking the backdoor at the Hummels to lead her down to the basement. The two of them slept chastely side by side, just happy to have the comfort of someone else after being alone for so long.

"I don't like New York," she told somewhere around 2 a.m.

"I don't know where I belong," he replied in response.

"Me neither," she admitted.

"Maybe after tomorrow, we can figure it out together."

He was soft where she was hard. He was quiet where she was loud. He was gentle where she was bold. He was kind and sweet where she was bossy and demanding. He was sure where she was frightened. But the thing that they had in common was that they were both lost, but on that night, they were one step closer to being found.

Two months later, she writes Quinn an email with their new address in Austin. She never responds.


	23. Wild Strawberry: Quinn & Blaine

**_Wild Strawberry: Quinn & Blaine_**

So this thing happened after Blaine moved to New York.

First of all, he and Kurt lasted about three weeks living together before Kurt unceremoniously ended their engagement over a petty fight about closet space. It was a catalyst really, an excuse to do something they'd been too afraid to do all summer. He moved out onto the couch for a few weeks until Santana decided that she'd had enough of the Hummelberry Show to last a lifetime and sublet a three-bedroom walkup in Chelsea. Sam turned up with his headshots to take the smallest bedroom and Blaine ended up across the hall from Santana.

Secondly, he found that he really, really liked living with Santana. There were always people around, these really fun and interesting characters from Santana's life at the café and Sam's modeling world. He'd made friends of his own at NYADA, and their place ended up being this weird menagerie of artists and models - you know, the beautiful people. They took to throwing parties, some lavish and some barely befitting the lowest of dive bars. It was everything living in New York should be and it somehow really worked between the three of them.

And then Quinn showed up to visit Santana for a weekend and there were shot. A lot of shots. Santana hooked up with the barista from the café on the corner and Sam ended up making out with some coltish model he'd met at his recent underwear shoot and Blaine found himself entertaining the former blonde Cheerio with tall tales on the roof of their building. Somewhere between the end of the Jose Cuervo and the beginning of the Fragoli Wild Strawberry, he kissed a girl for only the second time in his life. Awhile later, he woke up with a mass of blonde curls in his face and a pair of pink lace panties on his floor.

After Quinn woke up and snuck out while he was in the shower, he just chalked it up to a night of innocent fun that he would never tell anyone about. She took to calling him once a week just to talk and it should have been awkward but it wasn't. It didn't take much for their weekly calls to become almost daily, and she was suddenly his best friend. Three months after that wayward night on the roof, Quinn called to tell him that she was pregnant. They both cried for several minutes.

She came from New Haven to see him the next weekend, and they spent the entire three-day period talking about their options in the quietest of voices in his bed. He had a genuine affection for Quinn and certainly adored her, but he didn't want to force her to do anything she wasn't ready for. He knew all about her past with Beth and would accept whatever choice she made just as Puck had before him. She leaves him with a promise that they'll figure it out soon, and by the time she gets back to her tiny apartment at Yale, she's already called to let him know that she's keeping it.

They keep it quiet but end up telling Santana and Sam one night over Mexican when Quinn turns down a famous Lopez margarita for the third time. Sam is instantly protective and Santana is claiming godmother before they even get the words out. Quinn sleeps beside him again that night, and he wakes up spooned behind her in this really intimate way that just screams more than friendship. She kisses him before she gets on the train this time, her lips lingering longer than it should between two people who are claiming to be just friends. He realizes that he's stopped looking at guys on the walk back to the apartment and tells her all about his revelation when she calls to check in.

Everyone from high school eventually finds out when a photo Santana took shows up on Facebook. Kurt calls him for the first time since the breakup, and Puck sends a Quinn a polite congratulatory email from some airbase in Germany. They start talking about names and Mercedes insists on throwing her an elaborate shower when they're all back in Ohio for spring break. The baby is due just after finals, and she decides that she's going to transfer to Columbia so they can stay in the loft with their friends. They'll need the extra help and now that she's thinking about journalism, it just sort of makes sense. She still cries when he offers to move to Connecticut.

Finally, nine months after a night they still can't quite remember, Quinn goes into labor while they're making shadow puppets on their bedroom wall. He holds her hand in the cab on the way to the hospital and doesn't let go as they roll her into the delivery room. Avery Cooper Anderson comes squalling into the world in the middle of the night, and Blaine tells Quinn he loves her for the first time when they finally get to hold their son. It's not the family he always envisioned but sometimes dreams change. So do feelings and the way we think of attraction, of love and family. Blaine is certain of this when Santana and Sam come into fawn over their godson and Quinn gazes down at Avery with all the wonder in the world dancing in her beautiful eyes.

Later, when their son asks about how he was born, Blaine explains that love knows no limits. He might have believed that he could only ever love a man once upon a time, but he knows now that was because he could have only ever imagined loving Kurt back then. Now, he can't imagine loving anyone who wasn't Quinn.

And really, that's what happened when Blaine moved to New York.


	24. Xanthic: Mike & Mercedes

**_Xanthic: Mike and Mercedes_**

"One, two, step, pivot," Mike rattled off as Mercedes huffed and twirled her way across the wooden floor. She watched her reflection in the mirror, mindful of her heeled feet and how she moved her hips. "Crossover, very nice, now step ball change."

They had been at it for hours. Mike had been working for weeks on her stage show, coming up with completely unique choreography that played to her skill set. She would have some decent backup dancers to support her, but she was going to be the star of this performance. It was her first really big one, the chance to sing her smash single at the Grammy's where she was nominated for Best New Artist. She had been thinking gold all month, using the new age envisioning practices Rachel had been texting her about for weeks.

"Great job, Mercedes," Mike complimented her as the end notes of her uptempo dance hit faded away. He handed her a bottle of water and then tossed a towel over her shoulder. "I think you're almost there. A little more practice and you'll be ready for Sunday." He turned and waved dismissively at the other two girls who had been working at their periphery. "We'll see you ladies tomorrow. Seven in the morning sharp. Do not be late."

The girls grumbled as they stomped out of the studio. One of them was a failed pop singer herself and the other was a rejected contestant from some dance reality show. Neither of them were thrilled to be playing backup, but Mercedes was the hottest thing in the music world right now. She had the top single and record in the country (and 32 other countries) and had garnered international Twitter trends that had been talked about by the likes of Entertainment Weekly, TMZ and Variety. It was everything she had ever wanted to have but it got lonely at the top. She thanked God every day that she still had Mike around to ground her.

"So you're coming with me still right?"

"Of course," he laughed, shaking his head. "I'm your biggest fan, Cedes. You know that I wouldn't be anywhere else other than front row, center stage, to watch you. You are amazing; you've got this."

She smiled down at her feet. It reminded her a little of the blind faith that Sam had on her talent back in high school only so much better. Mike believed in the things she wasn't great at. He also believed because he saw it every single day. Though they ran in the same circle in high school and had Tina in common, they'd never been particularly close. And yet, she could honestly say that no one else knew her better in the world.

"I'll thank you in my acceptance speech if I win."

"_When_ you win that little gramophone, you are going to thank me first," he asserted confidently. "Okay, maybe second, but you're going to win this regardless."

He reached over then and took her hand. She was surprised by the sudden touch and even more when his thumb brushed over her skin. There was something unfamiliar but decidedly lustful in his gaze as she met his eyes. He leaned over and kissed her then, just the slightest brush of lips.

(Mercedes ended up thanking him third (behind God and her parents), but he didn't really seem to mind anyway.)


	25. Yellow Sunshine: Brittany & Puck

**_Yellow Sunshine: Brittany & Puck_**

If you took all the people in the world and put them side by side, you probably couldn't have found two people more different than Brittany S. Pierce and Noah Puckerman. You also couldn't have found two people more perfect for each other.

Sure, they had both hooked up with Santana, but that was pretty much where their similarities ended. Puck was all dark where Brittany was light. And yet, any time she smiled at him, she made him want to embrace anything that made her happy. Brittany made him believe (or tolerate, really) in rainbows and unicorns and the shiny glitter that always seemed to be on his sister's bedroom floor.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," she sang one day after third period when she was helping him rinse bright blue slushie out of his mohawk. "You make me happy when skies are gray."

He reached up and covered her hand on his shoulder briefly. Her beautiful smile never left her face, even when she was standing there covered in sticky ice. "You'll never know, dear," he sang back to her. Her little pink tongue darted out as she grinned. "How much I love you."

"So please don't take my sunshine away," they harmonized in unison.

Brittany carefully poured the cup of warm water over his head and then rubbed it with the white towel he'd found in the bottom of his gym locker. "I think I've almost got it all. We should be able to make it to lunch. It's smiley face pizza day!"

Only his girl could get that excited about eating subpar cafeteria pizza with pepperoni eyes and an olive mouth. "Nothing's better than smiley face pizza day," he teased before pulling her down in his lap. It echoed a moment he had sophomore year, but unlike that brief dalliance with Rachel, he knew that this relationship didn't have an expiration date. She wasn't in love with someone else, and he only had eyes for her. "Love you, Britt."

She leaned over to peck his nose affectionately. "Who doesn't love me?" she giggled before sliding back to her feet. She reached out to pull him up and then into a hug. It was only when he was close and she could whisper in his ear that she added, "Love you."

And that soft confession of love, the one where she dropped the bubbly disposition that typically dominated her personality and was just authentically real, was what made them perfect. She understood that it was easy to hide in a joke and confess the truth in quiet. It might not have worked for everyone, but it worked awesomely, badassedly for them.


	26. Zinc White: Artie & Tina

**_Zinc White: Artie & Tina_**

He goes to see her after the breakdown. Finn's passing affected everyone differently, but none of them had seen her depression coming. Sure, there had always been signs with the goth clothes and love of all things emo. However, when she stopped coming to school and eventually getting out of bed, it had sent a wave of shock through the glee club past and current.

She was sitting in a rocking chair when he wheeled into the small rec room. Artie watched her for a moment, rocking in her white gown staring at the white walls and tapping her white-socked feet. She barely ever speaks anymore, never sings, and won't really look any of them in the eye. He hadn't been to see her yet, so there was a hope that she would be different. After Mike failed to get any reaction when he'd been by last week, he had to admit that his hopes weren't very high.

"Hey, Tina," he greeted her as he stopped beside her chair. She didn't look over at him, only moved her gaze from the wall in front of her to the window just off to her right. "I rbought you some of those peanut butter cookies you like that my mom makes. I had to leave them at the front desk so they could test them, but they said they'd bring them by your room later."

She's unresponsive, not that he really expected anything different. "Kurt and Rachel are going to be in town Saturday, so they wanted you to know that they'd be by to visit," he told her. He studied her for a moment, praying that he'd see even the slightest trace of the old Tina there. "Rachel's show is getting pretty big, I guess. Oh, and did Blaine tell you that we're going to Nationals? They're in LA. I'll make sure someone films it so we can show you when we get back."

Artie hates silence, so he just keeps rattling on. He tells her about the email Puck sent last week about where he was stationed in Australia. He tells her about Sam's win at the synchronized swimming regional meet. He tells her about how Marley and Jake are trying things again and Quinn went to visit Mercedes in LA and Brittany somehow made the Dean's List. He tells her about the songs Mr. Schue picked for their Nationals setlist and Santana's new feminine hygiene commercial and the podcast Unique started.

"Oh, and Kitty and I broke up."

It's that last statement that seems to wake up something up inside her, at least a little. "I'm sorry," she whispered in the tiniest voice he could have imagined. He looks over at her in surprise, pushing up on the bridge of his glasses, and smiles. There's the girl he loved three years ago.

"Me too, but it's for the best. I'm not going to be in Ohio next year."

"Where will you be?"

"Tina," he drawled uncertainly. She knew that he was going to film school in New York. "You know I'm leaving."

"Everyone does," she deadpanned. "Puck and Rachel and Santana and Kurt. And Finn, can't forget Finn."

"Tina, you know Finn didn't leave."

"I was there, Artie, you weren't. I was in the passenger seat of the car when that truck ran that light. I was talking to him about glee club and he was distracted and it's my fault," she rambled on. It was the most words he'd heard her string together since the accident. "Finn died because of me."

It was ridiculous, but he knew that her guilty heart didn't see it that way. "Finn died because some trucker had worked too many hours and fell asleep behind the wheel," he told her softly but confidently. "You didn't have anything to do with that. Finn was our friend, Tina, all of ours. He wouldn't want this for you."

She was quiet for a moment. "I don't know how to be anything else anymore."

Artie reached over and squeezed her fingers lightly. "I'll help you."

Five years later, Tina gets hired on at a nonprofit that advocates for safe driving, and they name their little boy after Finn.

**THE END.**


End file.
